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Japan Finance Minister to Brief G-20 on Nuclear Crisis

By

Takashi Nakamichi

Updated April 12, 2011 4:07 a.m. ET

TOKYO—Japan's finance minister said Tuesday he plans to explain the current state of the country's nuclear crisis and how Tokyo intends to deal with it at a meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations later this week.

The Japanese government said the monthlong crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is on par with Chernobyl in terms of severity. WSJ's Mariko Sanchanta and Yumiko Ono discuss the public's reaction to the news.

The comment from Yoshihiko Noda likely reflects a sense of urgency among government officials to reassure Japan's trading partners over the extent of radiaoactive contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where a crisis caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has entered its second month.

The plant's stricken reactors have leaked a large amount of radioactive substances since their cooling systems were knocked out by the tsunami, stoking international concerns over potential health risks.

Handling the economic aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami represents a long, challenging process for the Bank of Japan. Former Deputy Bank of England Governor Sir John Gieve speaks to the WSJ about the central bank's role after the disaster.

"I believe that other countries have a strong interest in the nuclear plant issue as if it were their own problem," Mr. Noda said Tuesday at a news conference, ahead of a planned meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Washington, D.C. on Thursday and Friday.

"This matter is outside my jurisdiction, but I'll gather information and offer clear explanations on the current condition (of the reactors) and how we will deal with them."

One of Mr. Noda's two deputies,
Fumihiko Igarashi,
said recently that he wants Mr. Noda to clarify the nuclear issue at the G-20 gathering to prevent unsubstantiated rumors about radiation contamination from affecting trade policies toward Japan.

The G-20 meeting of top finance officials will be the first held after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami battered Japan's northeast regions March 11, killing more than 10,000 people and wiping out small coastal towns.

Mr. Noda said he will update G-20 officials on the steps Japanese policy makers have taken since the disaster, the impact it has had on the nation's economy, and planned extra budgets to rebuild and then revive the quake-hit area.

Mr. Noda added that he will thank officials from the Group of Seven industrialized countries for having helped Japan curb the yen's rapid rise March 18, when the group carried out a rare joint intervention in the currency markets.

Japan Finance Minister to Brief G-20 on Nuclear Crisis

TOKYO—Japan's finance minister said Tuesday he plans to explain the current state of the country's nuclear crisis and how Tokyo intends to deal with it at a meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations later this week.